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Copyright Matters

How JAMCOPY protects Copyright

About Copyright

What is Copyright? Copyright, which simply means the right to copy, is a collective term for a bundle of economic and moral rights granted by law to creators of original 'works of the mind' in literature, drama, art and music.

The Purpose of Copyright Copyright is the means by which creators benefit from their intellectual property - the work they have created - and is essential to human creativity. Through copyright, creators receive financial reward for their efforts and recognition of the importance of their intellectual property to the development of society. Without protection and financial reward, there would be little incentive for creators to produce new works.

Infringement Copying of all or part of a work without the permission of the copyright holder or without a licence is an infringement of copyright unless there is a statutory exception to such use of the work. Infringement of copyright is similar to theft of tangible property.

Examples of Infringement & Infringing Acts If you do not have the copyright holder's permission or a licence to do any of the following and there is no statutory exception you might be infringing copyright if you:

Copy the work - whether in part or whole;

Issue copies of the work to the public;

Adapting the work whether by translation or dramatisation; or

Authorise another persons (implied or otherwise) to do any of the above acts

It is important to note that just one act of copying could infringe the copyright of the author of the text, the artist who created the illustrations, the photographer whose photographs appear in the publication as well as the publisher who published the work.

Examples of infringement include:

Scanning publications - whether in part of whole, including illustrations, photographs, diagrams and tables and

Inserting them into course workbooks or coursepacks

Making it available on the internet or an intranet

Copying of a work - whether in part of whole by an educational institution for the purpose of teaching or giving instruction

Persons involved in the administration of institutions and organisations may be held personally liable for copyright infringement by staff and other employees.